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What’s happening: Major US retailers, including Target Corporation and Lowe’s Companies, released their quarterly financial results on Wednesday.
What happened: Lowe’s reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter, while Target failed to meet market expectations.
Target also slashed its guidance for the year following a sharp decline in same-store sales, exerting further pressure on its stock.
How were the results: Both retailers reported single digit declines in sales for the latest quarter.
Why it matters: Customers have been cutting back on their discretionary purchases amid ongoing concerns about economic growth and inflation due to tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump. This forced several retailers like Target to cut their annual forecast.
In a separate release, Target also announced the departure of its chief strategy and growth officer Christina Hennington. The company also named CFO Jim Lee as the head of enterprise strategy and partnerships.
Lowe’s was also hit by hesitation among customers to opt for big-scale renovation projects due to tariff concerns. However, the company still managed to post a lower-than-expected decline in comparable sales.
Last month, Lowe’s announced the acquisition of Artisan Design for $1.33 billion.
Target projected a low-single-digit decline in sales in fiscal 2025 and lowered its adjusted earnings guidance from $8.80-$9.80 per share to $7.00-$9.00 per share.
Lowe’s guided to sales between $83.5 billion and $84.5 billion and earnings of $12.15-$12.40 per share for the year.
How shares responded: Target’s shares tanked 5.2% to settle at $93.01 following the release of quarterly results, while Lowe’s stock declined by 1.7% to close at $227.37.
What to watch: Investors will continue monitoring tariff-related announcements from the Trump administration, which could significantly impact the overall results of both retailers ahead.
Context: The SGD/USD forex pair edged higher this morning as investors digested the latest economic reports.
Details: Data released this morning showed Singapore’s economy expanded by 3.9% year-over-year in the first quarter. Although this marked a deceleration from the 5% growth reported in the previous quarter, it topped market estimates of 3.6%.
The country’s GDP growth was boosted by strength in the manufacturing, wholesale and finance sectors. Analysts noted that the better-than-expected performance was likely driven by companies increasing their operations before the announcement of tariff hikes by the US.
Singapore’s current account surplus widened to S$34.61 billion in the first quarter, from S$33.52 billion in the year-ago period. This was the largest current account surplus since the second quarter of 2022.
Weakness in the US dollar also lent support to the SGD/USD pair this morning. The US dollar index, which measures the greenback’s performance versus a basket of major peers, fell around 0.1% to 99.51. This marked the fourth straight session of decline.
The USD/SGD forex pair fell around 0.1% to 1.2883 this morning.
What to watch: Investors await the release of economic data on inflation rate from Singapore (0900 UAE Time) on Friday. Analysts expect Singapore’s annual inflation rate to ease to 0.8% in April, from 0.9% in the previous month. The Consumer Price Index, which fell 0.1% in March, is expected to decline by 0.3% in April.
Other Markets: European indices closed mixed on Wednesday, with FTSE 100 and DAX 40 up by 0.06% and 0.36%, and the CAC 40 and STOXX Europe 600 Index down by 0.40% and 0.04%, respectively.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Russian President Putin could provide a peace plan in the coming days. The news sent the safe-haven US dollar index lower in forex trading this morning.
Japan’s au Jibun Bank services PMI fell to 50.8 in May, from 52.4 in the previous month. Services activity remaining in the expansion zone lent support to the JPY/USD forex pair.
Australia’s S&P Global services PMI business activity index fell to 50.5 in May, from April’s reading of 51, sending the AUD/USD pair lower in forex trading this morning.
Argentina’s economic activity estimator rose by 5.6% year-over-year in March, following a 6.0% gain in the previous month. The region’s economic activity expanding for the fifth straight month lent support to the ARS/USD forex pair.
The Energy Information Administration reported that US crude oil inventories grew by 1.34 million barrels in the week ended May 16. This being higher than market estimates of a decline of 1.85 million barrels sent WTI crude oil prices lower this morning.
Eurozone’s HCOB composite PMI (1200 UAE Time), HCOB manufacturing PMI (1200 UAE Time), HCOB services PMI (1200 UAE Time) and ECB monetary policy meeting accounts (1530 UAE Time), Germany’s Ifo business climate (1200 UAE Time), Ifo current conditions (1200 UAE Time) and Ifo expectations (1200 UAE Time), UK’s S&P Global manufacturing PMI (1230 UAE Time), S&P Global services PMI (1230 UAE Time), S&P Global composite PMI (1230 UAE Time) and CBI industrial trends orders (1400 UAE Time), Spain’s 17-year Green Bonos auction (1240 UAE Time), 3-year Bonos auction (1240 UAE Time) and 7-year Obligacion auction (1240 UAE Time), France’s 3-year OAT Auction (1300 UAE Time), 6-year OAT auction (1300 UAE Time) and 7-year OAT auction (1300 UAE Time), Canada’s CFIB business barometer (1500 UAE Time), PPI (1630 UAE Time) and raw materials prices (1630 UAE Time), South Africa’s building permits (1500 UAE Time), Turkey’s foreign exchange reserves (1530 UAE Time), Mexico’s economic activity (1600 UAE Time), GDP growth rate (1600 UAE Time) and mid-month inflation rate (1600 UAE Time), US Chicago Fed National Activity index (1630 UAE Time), initial jobless claims (1630 UAE Time), continuing jobless claims (1630 UAE Time), S&P Global composite PMI (1745 UAE Time), S&P Global manufacturing PMI (1745 UAE Time), S&P Global services PMI (1745 UAE Time), existing home sales (1800 UAE Time), EIA natural gas stocks change (1830 UAE Time), Kansas Fed composite index (1900 UAE Time), Kansas Fed manufacturing index (1900 UAE Time), 4-week bill auction (1930 UAE Time), 8-week bill auction (1930 UAE Time) and 10-year TIPS auction (2100 UAE Time), as well as Argentina’s consumer confidence (1830 UAE Time) and retail sales (2300 UAE Time).
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